NJG | Vol. 124. No. 14, April 4, 2024

NEWJOURNAL & GUIDE NEW JOURNAL & GUIDE

BLACK TOURISM: NEW FREEDOM SCULPTURE PARK NOW OPEN IN MONTGOMERY

By Rosaland Tyler

Will the grand opening of Alabama’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery boost sales in the already bustling Black tourism industry, which earned $109.4 billion in 2019?

Dubbed as a “Feel it. Touch it,” slave memorial by NBC-News, the newly-opened memorial aims to tell the centuriesold struggles of Blacks in America.

The answer is yes. Dubbed as a “Feel it. Touch it,” slave memorial by NBC-News, the newly-opened memorial aims to tell the centuriesold struggles of Blacks in America. It officially opened on March 27 in Montgomery on a 17-acre site, which was a popular slave-trade route in Alabama, according to news reports. The new slave memorial in Montgomery is located “along 17 acres above the Alabama River, which was a primary route to transport enslaved Africans during the slave trade,” according to its website. The new memorial is one of three historical sites operated by the Equal Justice Initiative: The Legacy Museum, located at 400 N. Court St., in Montgomery; The

COLVIN CLASSICS

see Museum, page 7A

WHY WE MUST NEVER FORGET MLK ON APRIL 4

By Leonard E. Colvin Chief Reporter Emeritus New Journal and Guide

Publisher’s Note: April 4, 2024 marks the 56th anniversary of the day

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot to death. We are reprinting this Colvin Classics from our April 2, 2003 edition written to honor the life of Dr. King. This article has been slightly edited for clarity.

On January 20, America observes the birth and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, the central leader of the Civil Rights Movement, which unfolded during the 1950s and 60s.

April 4 marks the tragic anniversary of the day Dr. King was shot to death (in 1968) as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was in the city supporting the city’s sanitation workers, who were primarily Black and on strike, seeking to force the city to raise wages and improve their working conditions. Historians and civil rights activists have complained about how the

April 4 marks the tragic anniversary of the day Dr. King was shot to death (in 1968) as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in downtown Memphis, Tennessee.

nation is enthralled with the day of King’s birth, while the tragic day of his death in the spring of 1968 has been forgotten over the years. Casual references may be made in the mainstream and Black media, or quiet observances may be held by an increasingly smaller number of groups, including the King Center in Atlanta or the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King co-founded in 1957. Just how should the nation observe the day of King’s passing? see King, page 3A

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

TRUMP BIBLES ‘RISKY BUSINESS’

By New Journal and Guide Staff

Ex-President Donald Trump’s newest selfbusiness pitch – the Trump Bible introduced during Holy Week leading to Easter Sunday – came under immediate critical scrutiny from a variety of sources. Among them were Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) who suggested Trump read the section on “committing adultery.”

Among the loud national Black voices from the faith community were Rev, Al Sharpton of the National Alliance Network and Sen. Raphael Warnock (DGa.), who also is a Baptist Minister. Warnock called Trump’s action “risky business.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D. Ga.)

Speaking to Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Easter Sunday morning, Warnock said, “The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement. Jesus, in the very last week of his life, chased the money changers out of the

The

temple, those who would take sacred things and use them as cheap relics to be sold in the marketplace.”

Trump’s “God Bless the USA” Bibles went on sale last week before the Easter holiday for $60 apiece.

Each copy also contains copies of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, suggesting Trump’s endorsement of the rise of Christian nationalism in the country. “The sad thing is that none of us are surprised by this. This is what we expect

– Sen. Raphael Warnock

from the former president,” Warnock said. “At the end of the day. I think he’s trying to sell the American people a bill of goods.”

He continued, “The folks who buy those Bibles might actually open them up, where it says things like ‘Thou shalt not lie’ or ‘shalt not bear false witness.’ “Where it warns about wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing. I think he ought to be careful. This is risky business for somebody like Donald Trump.”

By Leonard E. Colvin Chief Reporter Emeritus New Journal and Guide

Marvin Leon Lake, 80, a respected practitioner, mentor, and leader in journalism in Hampton Roads and Virginia, died on March 27. The cause of his demise was not revealed; however, he had been ill for some time. He died at home with his wife of 41 years, Ruby A. Farrar-Lake, whom he called the love of his life, best friend, and faithful caregiver. Lake’s career in reporting about the lives of the people in his Norfolk hometown spanned fi ve decades. He started in 1959 as a student-reporter and business manager of the paper at Jacox Middle School. He was reportereditor of the Clarion at Booker T. Washington High School (BTWHS), the NSU Spartan Echo, Journal and Guide, the city’s historic Black publication, and the Virginian-Pilot.

Born in 1944 in Norfolk, Virginia, he was predeceased by his mother, Audrey Marie Lake White, stepfather, Charles White, and brother, Maurice A. Lake.

Paul Riddick, a former Norfolk City Councilmember, recalls meeting Lake when both were children.

“He always walked

You always knew he would be somebody because he was quiet and smart.”

– Paul Riddick, a childhood friend

to elementary, junior high, and Booker T. You always knew he would be somebody because he was quiet and smart,” said Riddick. “We were friends. He was a conservative who did not always agree with the popular ideals as an individual. Because of that, some were not fond of him, but I always thought he was fair and professional as a reporter.” His earlier career in journalism was chronicled in the New Journal and Guide. see Lake

Virginia Beach’s 10-1 Election System Faces New Challenge

By Leonard E. Colvin Chief Reporter Emeritus New Journal and Guide

Last November, AfricanAmerican civic and faith leaders in Virginia Beach said they had suspicions of efforts to sabotage the implementation of the city’s new 10-1 system of electing its Council and school board members.

Since then, they have determined that their fears and suspicions were wellfounded.

Then Rev. Gary McCollum, chairman of the advocacy group “Due the Right Things” who supports the new system, sounded the alarm in an editorial that appeared in the local papers, including the GUIDE. He said former Virginia Beach City Treasurer John Atkins was leading the effort.

In a late August edition of the “Princess Anne Independent News,” Atkins noted in a paid advertisement that the Council approved the new system without the voters’ consent via a referendum.

McCollum said in 2021, a U.S. Federal Court in Norfolk ruled that the old hybrid system of electing Council violated the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965.

Rev. Gary McCollum

The city was forced to craft and adopt the current system that elects 10 council members, and the mayor atlarge.

The court agreed with a suit, “Hathaway vs. the City of Virginia Beach,” that the hybrid at-largedistrict system Atkins and his followers wanted to preserve violated the VRA. The city was forced to craft and adopt the current 10-1 system, where ten single-member districts would be used to elect council members, and the mayor was elected at-large. see Districts, page 7A

Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement.”

a civil rights attorney and renowned social justice

activist, who conceptualized and helped launch all three sites in Montgomery, including the newest of the trilogy.

Dwellings inhabited by enslaved people were crowded, crudely built, and scantily furnished. These original, 170-year-old dwellings inhabited by enslaved people tell an important story about enslavement in America and its legacy.

Photo: legacysites.eji.org

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo: NJGArchives

Marvin Leon Lake

HU’S PROTON INSTITUTE CHANGES NAME

By Rosaland Tyler

University

The

Institute recently changed its name to the Hampton University Proton Cancer Institute, about three years after CDC reports showed Black men and women continue to have disproportionately high cancer rates.

This means the new Hampton University Proton Cancer Institute will continue to rank No. 8, as a proton therapy facility, and continue to provide cutting-edge treatment, compassionate care and innovative research. The newly renamed center also launched a March 18 marketing, advertising, and activities campaign, in an effort to explain its name change.

Hampton University President Darrell K. Williams said in a recent statement on the school’s website, “In this next chapter for our facility, we reaffirm our dedication to research, advocacy and access. The new name reflects our comprehensive focus on cancer care and research, emphasizing our commitment to innovation and excellence. This renewed focus presents incredible potential to improve patient outcomes, regardless of their zip code, and possibly reshape medical history.”

This is the point. Hampton’s recent name change and shift to research, advocacy, access, and innovation, occurred at a time when an increasing number of Blacks are receiving a cancer diagnosis. In fact the three leading causes of death among Blacks are heart disease, cancer, and COVID 19, according to the CDC. Blacks have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. The prostate cancer death rate among Black men was nearly five times higher than among Asian or Pacific Islander men. The breast cancer death rate among Black women was nearly 2.5 times higher than among Asian or Pacific Islander women, according to the CDC.

Black females are more likely to be diagnosed with breast, lung, and colorectal cancer or make up more than half of all of these types of new cancer cases, according to a 2020 CDC report.

Meanwhile, Black

Hampton University President , Darrell K. Williams

males are more likely to make up a little less than a third of those diagnosed with prostate cancer, and a quarter of all new kidney, liver, pancreas, oral cavity, non Hodgkin lymphomas and myeloma cancers, according to the 2020 CDC report.

“Among AfricanAmerican females, uterine cancer incidence rates went up from 2007 to 2016, while lung and colorectal cancer incidence rates went down, and breast cancer incidence rates stayed about the same,” the CDC noted in its February 2020 report.

“Among AfricanAmerican males, incidence rates of prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer went down from 2007 to 2016, but kidney cancer incidence rates went up, according to the 2020 CDC report. “Changes in

April 6, 1957

Edition of the Guide

Report Given On NAACP Inquisition

Dr. S.F. Coppage, former treasurer of the Virginia State Branch, gave some highlights at the meeting of the NAACP Board at Shiloh Baptist Church on the hearing last week in Richmond on NAACP activities in Virginia. Coppage was one of three Norfolkians who were summoned to appeal before the Boatwright Committee on “Offenses Against the Administration of Justice.” Coppage told Board members that he got the impression that the Boatwright Committee considers the NAACP as a “Front” for lawyers who are handling civil rights cases and that state officers of the NAACP are “Stooges” for the lawyers who are using the NAACP as a collecting agency to secure funds to finance civil rights cases. He told Board members that the questions asked during the hearing made it appear that W. Lester Banks, state executive secretary and the state treasurer, arbitrarily signed checks for the lawyers who decide the cost of legal cases and how the money of the NACCP should be spent. The Norfolk dentist who spent about four hours on the stand said he got the impression that the Committee is seeking information on the amount of money raised by them and the cost of legal fees so they can tell NAACP members how their money is spent.

He said the committee gave the impression that the lawyers instigated the suits in the state ostensibly to wipe out segregation in public schools, parks, and in other places. but in a real sense to carry out instructions from “outside” interests.

April 2-8, 1966 Edition

Hampton’s recent name change and shift to research, advocacy, access, and innovation, occurred at a time when an increasing number of Blacks are receiving a cancer diagnosis.

incidence rates could be due in part to changes in risk factors or changes in screening test use.”

The good news is Hampton’s recent name change and shift in focus underscores the type of life-saving treatment

“Cancer care here is not a unilateral decision made by one person,” Dr. White said. “It’s a group decision based upon multiple disciplines of cancer treatment, as well as discussions with the patient.”

not been affected and the cancer hadn’t spread.

“Thankfully, her pathology showed it was a stage 1 tumor, and she didn’t need any additional therapy,” Dr. White told the Richmond TimesDispatch.

“So far, there’s no sign of any recurrence,” said Dr. White. “I just saw her recently and she’s doing very well.”

This type of outcome is similar to what the newly renamed Hampton University Proton Cancer Institute has accomplished since it opened its doors about 14 years ago.

that Javona Braxton, a 46-year-old Black female, received after she was diagnosed with colon cancer at Bon Secours in 2023.

“I don’t think anyone in their mid-40s expects to find something that’s going to alter their life going forward,” Braxton’s physician, Dr. Micheael White told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a March 28, 2024 interview.

Surgery was recommended as the first line of treatment for Braxton, who was diagnosed on May 18, 2023, and underwent laparoscopic surgery, a minimally invasive approach, using small incisions, that generally heal faster and easier than traditional surgical incisions.

Surgery also confirmed that her lymph nodes had

Tiffany Rodgers, director of marketing at Hampton Proton, said in a recent statement on the school’s website, “We have solid values and enjoy tremendous goodwill within our region. We aim to build on that relationship to further energize and inspire healthcare as we move into the future. The new name and logo represent an exciting evolution of

the brand, evoking an emotional connection to the work and the people we serve, and acting as a powerful symbol of the foundational pillars of our institute.”

Hampton University’s newly renamed cancer treatment center is an independent, freestanding facility billed as the largest of its kind in the world. It treated its first patient for prostate cancer in September 2010, according to news reports. Since then, it has averaged about 250 patients a year, little more than one-tenth of initial projections, which stood at projected treatment of 2,000 patients annually at the outset.

By September 2015, its fifth anniversary, it had treated a total of 1,274.

Proton therapy is a highly targeted form of radiation that is used to treat a variety of cancers, including head and neck, brain, lung, breast and gastrointestinal , as well as prostate. It delivers high doses of radiation even when tumors are close to sensitive organs, while sparing surrounding healthy tissue.

Because it lacks the leverage of a large health system, it faces a greater struggle to obtain insurance coverage for patients – a problem for all proton centers because of the high costs.

a single integrated public school system, in Norfolk will function are scheduled to receive expert guidance April 4 at 8 p.m. at St. John AME Church on Bute Street.

Victor J. Ashe, attorney who filed the first petitions 10 years ago in the Norfolk School desegregation case, and J. Hugo Madison, another local NAACP lawyer who has worked with him and helped to formulate an agreement on the new program, will be on hand to answer all questions.

Under the program agreed upon by the school board and its counsel, the NAACP and its lawyers and attorney from the U.S. Department of Justice, integration of teachers and pupils will be expanded on a wide scale.

$100,000 To Hampton By Holland’s Hometown

HAMPTON

Dr. Jerome H. Holland, President of Hampton Institute, received a $100,000 check last week from the residents of his hometown, Auburn N.Y. for the college’s centennial fund.

Dr. Holland, first Negro trustee of Cornell University, was honored at a dinner attended by 750 persons. Businessmen and residents of the central New York Community raised the money.

Dr. Holland, an allAmerican at Cornell and named to the Football Hall of Fame, is leading an $18 million find raising drive for the college. More than 8 million already has been raised.

The college will celebrate its centennial during the 1968 academic year and is currently undertaking a three phase Centennial Building program.

School Officials Study Diggs

NORFOLK

A high official of Norfolk’s public schools’ administration said that attention is being given to special problems at Diggs Park Elementary School where, according to the school’s PTA, 18 approved and qualified teachers have departed during the

past three years. Dr. Sam W. Ray Jr., assistant superintendent and head of the division of general administration and personnel, said that he and W.L. Robson, assistant superintendent and head of the division of instruction, have visited Diggs Park School recently and consulted with the Principal Geraldine Thompson and members of the teaching staff. The Personnel Chief said that he did not feel that parents should attempt to resolve school problems through newspaper publicity.

He was critical of Diggs Park PTA leaders for releasing information about the school’s problems to newspapers before asking the Superintendent of Schools Edward L. Lamberth why he had not answered correspondence about the school.

I.N. Wilson, PTA president, said this week. that since the committee had not heard from the superintendent on its March 8 request for a conference, it was concerned for that reason. Ray said that Lamberth maintains an open-door policy and will talk to and communicate with any parents or PTA representative. He added that the superintended has been burdened with much work that he is behind on correspondence and conferences.

April 2, 2003

Edition of the Guide

King: Struck Down 35 Years Ago

By Leonard E. Colvin

For the past 17 years on January 20 Americans have been celebrating a national holiday as in observes the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the central leaders of the Civil Rights Movement which unfolded during the 1950s and 60s. This Friday, April 5 will mark the 35th anniversary of the day Dr. King was shot to death as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in downtown Memphis.

Dr. King was in the city in support of the city’s mostly Black sanitation workers who were on strike seeking to force the city to raise their wages.

Historians and activists who worked with King have complained that while the nation is enthralled with the day of his birth, that tragic day in the Spring of 1968 has gone all but forgotten over the years. Casual references may be made in the mainstream and Black media or quiet observances may be held by an increasingly smaller number of groups including the SCLC, the rights groups Dr. King helped organize in 1957.

Just how should the nation observe the day of the King’s passing?

Dr. Milton Reid, who founded the Virginia

chapter of the NAACP and was a close friend of Dr. King, said, “There are at least three things’ Americans could do on this April 4 to observe the legacy of MLK on his death.”

“King was a man of peace, and we should protest this unjust war being waged in Iraq,” he said.

“Second, we should be on the steps pf the Supreme Court protesting the destruction of affirmative action.”

“Third, we should take a very hard look at ourselves and seek to determine why we still

Continued from page 1A

This question was posed recently by the New Journal and Guide to a number of people of varying ages who are current and longtime activists and ordinary citizens in Hampton Roads.

Andrew Shannon is President of the Peninsula SCLC. He is one of the youngest SCLC presidents in the nation. Also, he is the Virginia Vice President of the SCLC.

“I think observing King’s work on his birthday, death, and year-round is important,” he said. “Each day, I think we should be doing something to make Dr. King’s dream become a reality. Not just in the middle of January and each first week of April. Recall that before this man died, he helped this nation realize what it stood for: freedom and equality for all.”

Shannon said when King died on the night of April 4, 1968, “he was in Memphis helping sanitation workers. I ask how many Black leaders today would go out and stand up for what, some called the least among us. As the Bible says ‘when you serve the least of God’s childre – that means the garbage workers, the poor and the homeless –you serve Him.’”

Shannon said the Peninsula SCLC and other units have “some of the same issues facing Blacks in the 1960s as they did two generations ago.”

On the day King died, Dr. Milton Reid, who founded the Virginia Chapter of the SCLC in 1963 and was a friend of King’s, said he was in his study (at New

Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk), where he pastored. There he received the news of his friend’s death. King was due to arrive in Norfolk that following Saturday to work on the Poor People’s March. Reid was the Virginia Organizer of the campaign. Thousands across the nation were planning on invading Washington, D.C., to bring the plight of the poor to the nation’s political leadership.

Dr Reid said, “There are at least three things Americans could do on April 4.

“First, King was a man of Peace, and we should protest this unjust war being waged in Iraq. “Second, we should be on the steps of the Supreme Court protesting the destruction of affirmative action, which has helped with equalizing the nation’s employment and educational playing fields. “Third, we should take a very hard look at ourselves and seek to determine why we still have psychological blinders on,” he said. “We sit back and wait for others to answer the questions about problems facing our people ... we are unable to pursue our own freedom and destiny years after

King died.”

“There is not much difference between life and death in a sense…one is active, and the other is not, said local poet and retired educator Barbara Marie Green.

“We recall great men by recalling their deeds and their work and they are profound after the physical is gone, we do so spiritually in our minds. That is why we keep them alive ... to help us. That is how King should be respected, as well.”

A year before King was murdered, Green recalled living in Brooklyn and planning on going to Manhattan with her mother to attend a rally where King was to speak at the Concord Baptist Church.

“Mother and I sat in the balcony, and when King was introduced, she said, ‘oh, he looks like a little boy,’ I recall her saying.”

“But when he spoke, he had a thunderous voice. He was small in stature, but he stood 100 feet tall with his words and ideas. I recall it like it was yesterday. You could see he was so special and committed to his work.”

Vivian Brown was born two years after King’s death. She is well aware of the gap in the generational

Notice of Proposed Real Property Tax Increase

Increased Revenue Caused by Annual Reassessment

Proposed Tax Rate Remains the Same at $1.25 per $100 of Assessed Value.

The City of Norfolk proposes to increase property tax levies. The Proposed Operating Budget for FY 2025 from the City Manager, which was presented March 26, 2024, includes a decrease in the current real property tax rate of $1.25 per $100 of assessed value.

1. Assessment Increase: Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction or improvements to property, is estimated to exceed last year’s total assessed value of real property by 5.94 percent.

2. Lowered Rate Necessary to Offset Increased Assessment: The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $1.18 per $100 of assessed value. This rate will be known as the “lowered tax rate.”

3. Effective Tax Rate Increase: The City of Norfolk proposes to adopt a tax rate of $1.23 per $100 of assessed value. The difference between the lowered tax rate and the proposed rate would be $.05 per $100, or 4.24 percent. This difference will be known as the “effective tax rate increase.” Individual property taxes may, however, increase at a percentage greater than or less than the above percentage.

4. Proposed Total Budget Increase: Based on the proposed real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the total budget of the City of Norfolk will exceed last year’s budget by 6.2%.

awareness of his life and work.

Many people have been taught about King’s work and life instead of witnessing it with their own eyes or reading firsthand.

But Brown, a trained lawyer, recalled as a child in her Virginia Beach home that her family would sit and listen to his speeches on his birthday under a huge portrait of King that still dominates the wall of that house today.

“That helped me and other kids get involved in the NAACP and volunteer for organizations that help fulfill Dr. King’s dream,” said Brown, the project director of the AF’ram Festival.

“I think many people of my generation have fallen short of what people like Dr. King and others sacrificed to help us achieve the rights and access we have today. Each of us should commit to joining some organization and focus on making some difference in the lives of our community, especially our children, on that day. That is how we can realize the Deam of Dr. King.”

A light moment among friends.

We recall great men by recalling their deeds and their work and they are profound after the physical is gone, we do so spiritually in our minds. That is why we keep them alive ... to help us. That is how King should be respected, as well.”

– Barbara Marie Green, poet and educator

Several years ago, Lucinda Pitt overheard an exchange between her son and his friend who was discussing the history of civil rights and how Black activists like King had fought for some of the social and political rights.

“My son was talking about the civil rights history of the country,” she recalled. “Then the other young man said, ‘I don’t give a damn about that bull ... back then. This is today.’ It startled and hurt me at the same time.”

Pitt was the civic leader of the now closed privately owned Fairwood Homes Apartment Complex, a low-income housing

community in Portsmouth when its owners were unable to fix many of the structural flaws in units of the complex cited by the city.

“A lot of people do not understand the importance of King’s life, let alone why he died,” she said. “We should spend that day teaching young people about King’s work and our history. King and people like him paved the way for people like him, who is 22 years old. But he does not understand Jim Crow, how Blacks in 1965 achieved full voting rights. Finally, he digs mauled old women seeking to march for freedom.”

Katherine Johnson Honored By Thousands During WAI Induction Celebration

By Fred Outten WASHINGON, D.C.

On March 23, 2024, Women in Aviation International (WAI) inducted the brilliant mathematician and NASA Legend Katherine Johnson (posthumously) into their International Pioneer Hall of Fame Class of 2024 in Orlando, Florida. Other inductees included the first female class of U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Navigators, and the U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Flight Nurses. The induction ceremony occurred during WAI’s 35th Annual Women in Aviation International Conference. According to WAI, this was one of its largest and most successful annual gatherings attracting more than 5,200 attendees, including 142 international representatives from 35 countries.

WAI was established in 1992 to honor women who have made significant contributions as recordsetters, pioneers, or innovators. With over 18,000 members across 120 countries, WAI is the largest organization in the world dedicated to increasing the number of women working in all areas of aviation and aerospace. Katherine Johnson, known as the Woman of the 20th Century, has taken her well-deserved place among

the WAI International Pioneer Hall of Fame honorees! As a nation, we must continue to remember and honor Katherine Johnson (8/26/1918 – 2/24/2020) by keeping her at the forefront of our nation’s history. Katherine Johnson’s tenure at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and now NASA, was during the decades of the 1950s and 1960s when our nation, and indeed the world, were caught up in an exceedingly dangerous Space Race during the Cold War with the then #1 World Power, the Soviet Union (now Russia).

It was a time when the Soviet’s Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, threatened to “bury” America. A time when the threat of nuclear annihilation through an Atomic War was very real!

Those of us who lived through that time remember the U.S. civil

defense response of vivid “duck and cover” drills under desks in schools, the warning sirens that rang out at any time during AirRaid Drills to seek cover in “fallout shelters” that were built underground throughout the country in the event of a nuclear attack. The success of America’s space program was vital to secure America’s ultimate victory in the Space Race with the Soviet Union and perhaps avoiding World War III. Katherine Johnson’s mathematical genius was crucial in helping the United States win that Space Race. At NACA/NASA, Johnson’s unprecedented mathematical calculations of orbital mechanics, calculating trajectories, were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S.-crewed spaceflights: from America’s first man in space Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 mission in 1961; to John Glenn’s three earth orbits in 1962; to the calculation of the trajectory for the historic first successful crewed 1969 Apollo 11 Moon Landing and subsequent Apollo missions; to the Space Shuttle program; and to the Earth Resources Satellite. Even after her passing in 2020, Katherine Johnson’s work is still used to further the success of space exploration to this day!

Dr. King (L) and Dr. Milton A. Reid (R) Photo: NJGArchives

Photo: NJGArchives

Katherine Johnson

PROFESSOR

MORE THAN A PARTISAN DIVIDE

By Wornie Reed, Ph.D.

We have a problem in America – and it’s not the partisan divide. After the 2020 national election, an opinion piece in the Washington Post summarized the thinking of several political scholars who called it “political sectarianism,” suggesting something more substantial than “partisanship.”

But political sectarianism can be misleading if it expresses “both-sideism” rather than which political party has strayed from policy differences to “tear the house down” Congressional actions.

There are several ways to examine the partisan divide. One is to examine how the country is sharply divided on political views, probably more sharply than at any time in recent history. Another is to see how the public may be sharply divided on societal issues.

And then, there is the naïve assumption that too many people hold that individuals just happened to have arrived at different points of view on many issues. It is this latter view that I will address.

What people tend to know is often what they have been told to know. And the Republican propaganda machine has been very good at getting people to know their “truths.”

Over the past year, the PBS series “America at the Crossroads” has been problematic because it treats Democrats and Republicans as equal partisans. Treating them as equal partners in this bad situation is like calling the Social Democratic Party and the Nazi Party similar partisans in Germany in the early 1930s.

The PBS Newshour is practicing irresponsible journalism to treat the authoritarianism/fascism pushed by the Republicans as just a partisan difference from the Democrats. We are not comparing apples and apples here.

Yes, Democrats and Republicans differ on issues – economics and taxation, community and social responsibility, individual rights, etc.

While these partisan differences still exist and perhaps to a greater degree, there are additional differences between the parties, differences that many of us characterize as dangerous for the future of our form of government.

For example, while Democrats have retained their positions on the above mentioned issues, Republicans have gone much more extreme on theirs, including especially anti-civil rights and antidemocracy. Republicans have gutted the most important civil rights bill, the Voting Rights Act and they have effectively abolished affirmative action.

But perhaps more importantly, they are pushing democracy to its limits, if not further, both locally and nationally. See Tennessee, where the state legislature expelled two African-American legislators for participating in a peaceful protest for gun control. The ACLU notes that since 2021, ten states have enacted anticritical race theory (CRT) laws that attack “our First Amendment rights to read, learn, and discuss vital topics in schools.” And at least two dozen additional anti-CRT laws have been introduced in state legislatures. Then, look at the increased gerrymandering in the states, producing a disproportionate share of local and national Republican legislators.

Nationally, Republicans and associated RightWingers support these antidemocratic actions in the states. However, perhaps more significantly, they supported the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, which was to disrupt regular national democratic processes and bring about a coup.

Further, The New York Times and other sources report that “Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government ... reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.” This is blatant authoritarianism being openly espoused.

Borrowing from several top scholars and a former secretary of state, Robert Reich argues that Trump and his allies are worse than authoritarians. They are fascists.

The PBS Newshour is practicing irresponsible journalism to treat the authoritarianism/fascism pushed by the Republicans as just a partisan difference from the Democrats. We are not comparing apples and apples here. Perhaps it is more like comparing the A-bomb to the bombs that preceded it.

Further, implying that this is a two-sided partisan issue is dangerous. It means First Amendment-type support for destroying democracy in America.

Tireless Activism & The Latest Region To Go Coal-Free

By Ben Jealous (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

Jerry Curran has been organizing to retire the Merrimack Station coal power plant in Bow, New Hampshire for 17 years. He is one of many local activists who have brought inspiring tenacity and creativity to the fight to make New England coal-free.

Last week, that goal was realized. After lengthy negotiations with the Sierra Club, The Conservation Law Foundation, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Granite Shore Power announced it will retire Merrimack and Schiller Stations’ remaining coal units by 2028 and 2025 respectively. That means the end of the last coal power plants in New England, which will now join the Pacific Northwest as the second major region in the country to be free of one of the dirtiest energy sources known to humanity.

I am personally elated. My father’s family has been in New England since 1624. I have family in New Hampshire now – the kind of outdoors enthusiasts who helped instill in me my own love of nature.

We never could have gotten to this point without years of activism calling attention to the harm caused by coal. In addition to the economics of clean energy, the incremental wins by activists along the way – including hard-won

By Walt Carr

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.) (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

When one of the things you don’t have to do is go out to the office belonging to somebody else, you get a chance to be more observant of what’s going on around the world. One of the things I’ve noticed is the great effort to insult, discourage, even destroy Black women who’ve been most successful among us at doing their jobs!

Though I’m not nearly as successful as some of them, I count myself among them; however, this article is not about me because I’m a Dick Gregory Disciple. In my life, I’ve fought a lot of battles (some regretfully brought on by our own community, and while those can kill your spirit for a while, we have to continue fighting the most damaging challenges for our people who run into even bigger problems).

If you haven’t noticed, some of our best and brightest are under attack, and some of our own don’t understand what’s happening. There’s an organized effort to tear down so many Black women after the power we have shown so that we don’t just talk about making a difference, we do it!

In the last Presidential election, we let it be known

that we have power and we used it, making it clear Black women, with the help of a few others, intended to have a Black woman for our Vice-President, and through the collective power we have, Kamala Harris is our Vice-President. We then said – not we want, but we shall have a Black woman on the Supreme Court. Soon thereafter, Supreme Court Judge Katanji Brown Jackson became a member of the Supreme Court. We continued supporting Black women for high-level positions in many places and we got them. It didn’t go unnoticed that when we work together, we make things we want to happen.

There’s an organized effort to tear down so many Black women after the power we have shown so that we don’t just talk about making a difference, we do it!

Since our successes, the enemy noticed and began figuring out how to put an end to the power we exercised to get so many Black women in the high places they deserved to be. Dr. Claudine Gay became President of Harvard University. No Black woman had ever done that before – but as soon as she arrived there, some folk realized she was BLACK so she had to go! Fulton County, GA elected as their District Attorney Fani Willis. That was okay until she was in charge of trying the Orange Man for attempting to collect votes that were not rightly his! In DC, the Orange Man came up against Judge Tanya Chutkan and she became the Orange man’s enemy. Along came N.Y. State’s Attorney Letitia James. You know the story. He called her everything but a child of God, but she won the case against him!

see Sister, page 5A

legislation and safeguards –are what ultimately made it impossible for the last coal plants to continue. Curran has examples to share: “Around 2008, New Hampshire ranked in the top four states in the country for childhood asthma rate. We worked with schools to encourage kids to make those paper dolls that link up and make a chain. They created 18,000 of them –representing the 18,000 children in New Hampshire living with asthma. We hung the chain of paper dolls across the statehouse in our grassroots lobbying to pass tougher pollution standards for coal plants.” And about that same time period, activists recruited local hairdressers for an event at the state capital in which more than 100 legislators had hair samples taken to be tested for mercury. Most of the results were positive. No level of mercury poisoning is safe. In 2008, the biggest single-

We risk backtracking on this progress, however, if we replace coal plants with gas. The future is clean energy like wind, solar, and battery storage.

point mercury polluter in the state was Merrimack Station. Merrimack has also consistently been one of the state’s top polluting power plants, period. And it has continued spewing high levels of pollution even in its final years, when it operated only about 50 days a year. It is a socalled “peaker” plant, only supplying energy during times of peak demand for the power grid. While Merrimack’s outsized pollution is a testament to the dangers of coal, it is also a very troubled plant. In February 2023, the New Hampshire Department of Environment Services found the coal plant’s particulate matter emissions exceeded EPA limits by 70 percent. Since then, it has operated more than 500 hours in violation of its permit, according to the state. see Coal-Free, page 5A

By Julianne Malveaux (TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM)

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) needed Democrats to narrowly avert the government shutdown that loomed large if Congressional budget legislation was not passed by Saturday, March 23. Many Republicans did not vote for the budget legislation; Democrats saved the day. Some Republicans would rather shut government down, inconveniencing if not disabling millions of people, than to do their job and work with their colleagues across the aisle to pass legislation. What is wrong with these ridiculous Republicans! Why are they so opposed to doing their work.

Republican dysfunction has been a byproduct of the 45th President’s confusion. He still keeps insisting that he won the 2020 election, when it is clear that he did not. His intransience led to the violent insurrection of January 6, and has apparently split the Republican party. There are those who believe in the Constitution and compromise, and these are those who believe in disruption. The worse of that pack is Marjorie Taylor Green, the Georgia Republican who seems better suited for a circus than the halls of Congress. She is loud, rude, and out of control yet, with the support of a

handful of her colleagues, she can bring Congressional activities to such a screeching halt, that the body could even pass gas without drama.

Republican dysfunction has become so challenging that dozens of members say they won’t run for another term. Others are leaving, retiring, in the middle of their term because so little is getting done. While I acknowledge their right to resign whenever thy want to, I think they are cheating their constituents. They ran for two-year terms. They accepted salaries, staffed, offices, met with constituents. Stepping down in the middle of their two-year term is disruptive and costly, and it leaves their constituents without representation.

While the Republican resignations of Kevin McCarty (R-CA), Bill Johnson (R-OH). Ken Buck (R-CO) and Mike Gallagher

Republican dysfunction has become so challenging that dozens of members say they won’t run for another term. Others are leaving, retiring, in the middle of their term because so little is getting done.

(R-WI) narrow the dominant party’s majority, I think it selfish and in very bad form because these representatives don’t like the way Congress works anymore and are tired of the far right and their shenanigans. Why not stay, call it out, and change it?

The ridiculous Republicans are more afraid of the former President than they are of their own shadows, yet if they called him out, perhaps others would look and notice that the Emperor is not wearing clothes, and indeed is stark naked beneath the cloak that is woven from lies, bombast, vitriol, and absurdity.

Julianne Malveaux

Ben Jealous

Coal-Free

Continued from page 4A

But this new agreement with Granite Shore Power offers the chance for a drastic change in direction. Jim Andrews, Granite Shore’s CEO, said of Merrimack and Schiller, “I think we’re undertaking a bold step forward and making good on a promise to transition our coal fired plants to clean energy facilities. I think these facilities will pave the way for New Hampshire to be a leader in the clean energy economy.”

Those words are refreshing. And we will hold Granite Shore Power to them.

Too much is at stake for us not to.

In the last 14 years, communities across the country have mobilized to retire 381 coal plants. That has meant over 54,000 lives saved, 84,000 heart attacks prevented, and nearly 900,000

Sister

Continued from page 4A

asthma attacks averted. Moving beyond coal means fewer lives lost to preventable illnesses. We risk backtracking on this progress, however, if we replace coal plants with gas. The future is clean energy like wind, solar, and battery storage. Gas development, extraction, shipping, and burning all offer intolerable health risks for people.

Moreover, transitioning to clean energy isn’t just the moral choice for our people and our environment; it is the smart one economically. While the closure of these New Hampshire coal plants may not immediately affect energy costs in New England, the long-term benefits of clean energy are undeniable. Fossil fuels like coal and gas create an unbearably volatile landscape for energy costs. That is a burden households should not have to bear.

Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

WHY IS GOV. YOUNGKIN ENDORSING TRUMP?

By Monica Brooks Dilworth

On March 6, Governor Youngkin endorsed Donald Trump for President. In normal times this would be expected and appropriate; but these aren’t normal times.

With the reality of all that has happened since 2016, Governor Youngkin’s endorsement of Donald Trump cannot be considered business as usual. Youngkin’s endorsement wasn’t appropriate, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise.

Governor Youngkin holds the highest office in Virginia. His job is to operate in the best interests of the people he was elected to serve. No matter what his personal preference might be, it was unacceptable for him to publicly endorse a candidate who has been indicted on 91 felony counts across 4 cases.

placed the cause of a singular man above the oath he made to protect the Constitution.

No matter what his personal preference might be, it was unacceptable for him to publicly endorse a candidate who has been indicted on 91 felony counts across 4 cases.

the non violent transfer of power as well as our mandate for free and fair elections. It’s hard not to be suspicious of the motives of any public official willing to endorse a candidate who has been charged with actions that strike at the heart of our democracy.

The long list of charges against Mr. Trump include election interference (GA), withholding classified documents and “conspiracy to defraud the United States”; serious crimes that go against the collective interests of the American people. Gov. Youngkin swore to uphold the Constitution when he took office, yet his endorsement of Trump, gives the impression he has

This isn’t about Governor Youngkin’s individual vote. He can vote for whomever he wants. I’m saying he should have drawn the line at a public endorsement of anyone accused of crimes as far reaching as those outlined in the cases against Donald Trump.

While Mr. Trump must be considered innocent until proven guilty, we the voters and our leaders must proceed with caution. Some of what the former President is charged with, seemed to threaten our long treasured practice of

Politicians will continue to line up to endorse Trump, but we can’t be silent. Unacceptable behavior has been repeatedly normalized since 2016. We mustn’t keep watching politicians cross the lines. We have to insist that they pursue the goal of good governance, instead of the approval of one man.

Republicans

Continued from page 4A

Special elections are costly. One estimate says that each one can cost at least a million dollars. Other estimates (depending on the congressional district) say the tab can be much more. The members of Congress who choose to quit their jobs don’t lose anything because they refused to serve their term out, but how does this affect their staff? Presumably, their replacements would keep everyone on, but nothing is certain. Do these rats who just jumped off sinking ships have any consideration for others or are they just taking the easy way out?

If Republican dysfunction were simply a Republican problem, I’d gleefully lick my chops and make fun of them. But this Republican problem is an American problem as evidenced by the number of times we have avoided a government shutdown in the last several months.

House minority leader Hakim Jeffries deserves credit for choosing government

The Orange Man has over 90 charges, and he’s still walking free for years. Let’s use the power we have to free Marilyn and allow her to go on doing the great work she was doing.

Dr. E. Faye Williams, President of TheDickGregorySociety. org

Let’s go to a case in Baltimore, MD regarding Atty. Marilyn Mosby. Her case involves the great work on her successfully making Baltimore police pay for the death of a young man named Freddie Gray while he was in police custody. I don’t have enough space to give you the full story, so I want to direct you to http://www. baltimore4homes.org/. Click or tap to follow the link.” data-auth=”Verified” data-linkindex=”0”>www. baltimore4homes.org to get the full story of why Marilyn was prosecuted. It was for doing her job too well! We have an urgent need for you to go to the site, listen to Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, http://et.al/. Click or tap to follow the link.” data-auth=”Verified” data-linkindex=”1”>et. al and sign the petition we need for an immediate pardon. She’s guilty of nothing more than having been a Black woman in a powerful position. The powers that be didn’t want her there. She’s scheduled to be punished with draconian years of imprisonment on May 23, 2024 for what is basically nothing.

efficiency over partisan bickering as he led his caucus to vote for the compromise. But Speaker Johnson is skating on this ice. The obstreperous Marjorie Taylor Green has vowed to remove him from the speakership because she did not get her way. If she proceeds with her threat, count on progress on anything – Ukraine, Israel – until Republicans can get their acts together. With the Republican margin shrinking, we can likely count on several weeks of drama before there is a new speaker.

The only think that might save Republicans is the fact that their dysfunction might become an electoral issue.

In the interest of bipartisanship, let me say that Democrats have their own brand of dysfunction, which manifests in vocal opposition to President Biden over Gaza (although I agree with the Squad, Senator Schumer (DNY) and others on this one. Democrats have wings, but we aren’t throwing flames. And the only losers in this Republican farce are the American people.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is a DC based economist and author. Juliannemalveaux. com

By Shedrick Byrd

Lawdy, lawdy, lawdy, Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for President of the United States, is selling Bibles for $60 to raise money to help pay legal fees for crimes he has allegedly committed. He says he is raising the money to help his campaign. But many of us don’t believe that.

Since introducing the Bibles Trump has added a new slogan to his campaign, “Make America Pray Again (MAPA).” I’m sure this puts a lot of pressure on his Evangelical Christian followers. My, my, my, what is America coming to when one man can wreak so much havoc on our country? He should immediately drop from the race and go home. If he still has one to which he can go! The man is a wrecking ball to the country!

When asked by a news reporter why he was selling Bibles he said he was raising money for his campaign. He told the

When

By Roy Perry-Bey

The “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville has brought the issue of white nationalism to the top of the nation’s agenda – specifically, revealing Trump and his white nationalists White House staff.

As Stephen Miller, Richard Spencer, who is an avowed open white nationalist and Steve Bannon, who ran Breitbart. com described as the home of the alt-right. “What is the alt-right? It is a dressed-up term for white nationalism.

The ADL calls white nationalism “a term used by white supremacists as a euphemism for white supremacy,” while White nationalists believe race and IQ are related and that African-American people are inherently inferior in IQ.”

Neo-Nazis, for their part, typically rely on the imagery of Nazi Germany, while neo-Confederates focus instead on imagery of the Confederacy.

In a 1968 memorandum to 14 field offices, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, a white nationalist, instructed recipients to “submit

reporter the Bible was his favorite book to read. The reporter asked him what was his favorite scripture in the Bible. He couldn’t or didn’t answer that question. As he does with so many other questions he can’t answer he just shunned it off. In my mind I remembered when he tried to answer that question once before he said his favorite verse was in “Two Corinthian.” Having someone like Trump running for President is a sad day for America. The amazing thing to me is the amount of applauses he gets from his audiences when he tells

imaginative and hardhitting counterintelligence measures aimed at crippling the Black Panther Party within a context of “gang warfare” and “attendant threats of murder and reprisal.”

In the subsequent year, the agency sent forged letters, including insulting cartoons and death threats, to leaders of both movements, instigating the dispute that erupted on UCLA’s campus.

In 2019 no memorandum was issued to field offices, from FBI director Christopher A. Wray, instructing any recipients to “submit imaginative and hard-hitting counterintelligence measures aimed at crippling white nationalist

Since introducing the Bibles, Trump has added a new slogan to his campaign, “Make America Pray Again (MAPA).”

them obvious lies or make gaffes. Have these people given up their soul to Trump? If not it certainly seems so. They are so immersed in Trump’s showmanship until they have become blinded to real life not realizing that he is not going to treat them any better than any other citizens if by some means he is elected.

Trump has said if elected, he plans to pardon all the prisoners who have been found guilty and jailed for their conduct in the January 6 insurrection. I can’t imagine what that would be like. These criminals would be free to violate any laws they wish and would create retribution on anybody they feel had something to do with their incarceration.

I’m no psychiatrist nor am I a psychologist. I am just a common everyday guy, but I can see that

Trump needs help. Not the criminal help he is currently seeking and getting. He is like the proverbial bull in a china tea shop. I know he doesn’t realize it and will not be convinced but somewhere along the way he is going to have to be stopped from doing the crazy stuff he is doing. He is running out of schemes and is becoming more desperate, more aggressive. If he continues the way he is going he will truly destroy the country before we get to the election. There must be some ways lock him up or medicate him to stop him. He is only one person. I know he has a few supporters who make the calls for him but somebody is going to have to stop him!

Shedrick Byrd is a contributor to the New Journal and Guide

...urging every American to hold their elected officials accountable to outlaw white nationalist paramilitary organizations and white supremacist hate groups.

paramilitary organizations within a context of “domestic terrorists” and “attendant threats of racial murder and national reprisal.”

In 2017, the agency never sent forged letters, including insulting cartoons and death threats, to leaders of the white nationalist organizations, to dismantle, disrupt and destroy the hate groups posing a national security threat in the U.S.

In fact, Trump administration canceled a grant for a group that fights white supremacist terror, thus refusing to renew the anti-domestic terror program under which it was funded, despite recent high-profile attacks like the Pittsburgh Jewish synagogue shooting; in spite of data showing a spike in attacks on religious minorities. The money would have paid for the development of

new approaches to prevent terrorism before it begins. Programs that develop training materials for law enforcement, mental health counselors and schools to better identify warning signs of extremism so that terrorism can be averted were designated to receive funds.

Sensible gun legislation is not the only issue that divides America today. But urging every American to hold their elected officials accountable to outlaw white nationalist paramilitary organizations and white supremacist hate groups. This should be an American mandate and no longer a first or second amendment shield or excuse for felony serial racial murder, violence or race war.

Mr. Roy L. P{erry-Bey is the Director, United Front For jJustice (ufj2020@

Monica Brooks Dilworth resides in Charlotte, N.C.

Shedrick Byrd

Roy Perry-Bey

Monica Brooks Dilworth

For more on the newly opened Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, visit The Legacy Sites (eji.org).

Museum

Continued from page 1A

The Equal Justice Initiative has helped free more than 140 death row inmates wrongfully convicted.

“This is a place to have a deep, immersive engagement with the legacy of slavery, and primarily the lives of enslaved people, so we can have a deeper understanding of that,” Stevenson said in a recent NBC-News interview with Lester Holt. “It’s about humanizing it.”

Stevenson added, “There’s not much in the visual record of that era that helps you get a sense of the humanity of these people. But artists have done an amazing job.”

The Legacy Sites website offers this description. “Overlooking the Alabama River, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park honors the lives and memories of the 10 million Black people who were enslaved in America and celebrates their courage and resilience.”

The recent grand opening of the slave memorial in Montgomery comes on the heels of the (mid-June 2023) grand opening of the International AfricanAmerican Museum in Charleston, S.C. According to USA TODAY, more than 100,000 people have visited the Charleston Museum since it opened last summer. And an increasing number of

Districts

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Also, State Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler sponsored a bill declaring such hybrid systems.

The city used the new system to elect many of the current members of the Council in 2022. Four of them are African-Americans, the most significant number in the city’s history. Hired by the city, the UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center determined the election system complies with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The center also conducted a survey indicating the 10-1 district voting system was supported by 81 percent of city residents, with a 95 percent confidence level.

The last piece of the puzzle to codify the new system was changing the city’s Charter to update it to reflect the change during the 2024 session of the Virginia General Assembly. The lawmakers did with passage of Senate Bill 189; sponsored by newly minted State Senator Aaron Rouse.

Blacks have also moved abroad since the George Floyd killing occurred in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.

Currently, there are about 300 Black-themed museums in the USA, including virtual ones. More are scheduled to open soon, including the National Urban League’s Civil Rights Museum in Harlem, the Go-Go Museum in Washington, D.C, The Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx, and the National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Meanwhile, a Ghana’s Diaspora Affairs Office report said at least 1,500 Blacks moved to Ghana between 2019 and 2023.

As a result, domestic and international Black tourist sales will probably be brisk this year.

“Black travelers are interested in going to destinations they are curious about; where they feel a sense of connection, an opportunity to be challenged, and have the chance to step outside their comfort zone and be transformed,” Travel Noire General Manager Marissa Wilson told CNN in a 2019 interview, at a time when nearly five million Black millennial travelers in the US had already spent at least $63 billion on travel in 2018, and at a time when Wilson predicted that amount would increase.

“And, just like every other group that travels, they want an opportunity to get away from everyday life and enjoy everything the world has to offer.” said Wilson, who heads

Delegate Fowler-Convirs, who also represents the Beach sponsored a similar Bill passed in the House: HB 416.

But in early January, former council members Linwood Branch, Dee Oliver, Don Horsely, Steve Simpson, and LaTonya Roberson filed a lawsuit against the new system. The lawsuit claims the imposition of the new system “unlawfully diluted their voting rights guaranteed under the Constitution of Virginia.”

Recently, toward the end of the current legislative session, Governor Glenn Youngkin, instead of approving or vetoing the Senate Bill, amended it. Youngkin said the Charter change should wait until the pending lawsuit regarding the 10-1 system plays out in court.

Youngkin also included a reenactment clause to allow for a reassessment of the legislation pending a potential resolution of the ongoing lawsuit involving Virginia Beach.

Senator Rouse, Delegates ConvirsFowler and Alex Askew immediately criticized his

Travel Noire, a digital media company that was launched in 2014 and offers travel tips to Blacks. Travel Noire has over a million social media followers, according to its website. It produces a newsletter that goes out to more than 150,000 people. It is boosting the Black tourism industry.

While it is unclear how many Black tourists will travel this year to the newly opened slave memorials in Montgomery or Charleston (or travel abroad) – it is clear that Black travelers comprised more than 13 percent of the U.S. leisure travel market in 2019.

It is also clear that more Blacks are joining the travel industry, including a group of individuals in Richmond who attended the inaugural meeting of Black Tour Operators that was held in October 2023.

“Something very powerful happened” as small, independent tour operators convened in Richmond and “shared their need to connect with other Black tour operators,” a statement on the Blacks in Travel and Tourism website explained, describing the impact of the inaugural meeting that it helped organize in Richmond in 2023. Blacks in Travel and Tourism is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It will hold its next annual meeting Oct. 10-11, 2024 at the Hyatt Centric in Fort Lauderdale.

For more on the newly opened Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, visit The Legacy Sites (eji.org).

action as an unnecessary delay tactic.

Rev. McCollum, who is also the Virginia Beach NAACP vice president, said, ”It’s a delaying tactic to cater to moneyed interests in Virginia Beach to take us back to an old system that has never worked.”

He called on the legislature to continue to move forward and give Virginia Beach citizens the right to choose their own representatives at the Council and school board levels. The amendment to the bill can be reversed by a twothirds vote from both the Senate and House. Senator Aaron Rouse is expected to bring it to the General Assembly when they reconvene for a veto session on April 17.

“I am still optimistic that the state is going to do the right thing because we can’t go backwards, and we won’t go backwards,” McCollum said. “The citizens of Virginia Beach have spoken, and they’re going to speak again in November. They’re going to speak again in other elections. We’re not going to go backward. Any attempt by the Governor to delay this it’s not going to work.”

Photo: Courtesy

Continued from page 1A

Lake was not only an aspiring journalist but a dynamic “Big Man on Campus” (BMOC), involved in the student government, debate teams, academic honor groups, and other activities in high school and college.

Lake was drafted in 1967 and spent two years in the United States Army during the height of the Vietnam Conflict. He saw no combat and worked in the public information office, producing the base newspaper at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.

After his military career, he landed a job as a reporter with the Pilot in the early 1970s, covering federal courts, education, Norfolk City government, politics, and unique projects.

“M.L.,” as he was affectionately known, retired in 2007 after moving up the ranks as the first AfricanAmerican reporter, editor, and public editor of The VirginianPilot, closing a 41-year career in the newsroom.

Glen Mason, a graduate of Norfolk Catholic and NSU, was a fledgling journalist at the GUIDE and the Pilot. A stellar athlete, Mason covered sports. When he arrived at the Pilot in the early 1970s, he, Lake, Kenneth Wright, an art producer and photographer, and the janitorial staff were the only Blacks working in the Pilot’s building at the time.

“There would be no Glen Mason, a sportswriter for a major daily, if it were not for Marvin Leon Lake,” Mason told the GUIDE. “With Lake and the GUIDE’s Len Graves and Cal Jacox, I had AfricanAmerican journalists in my youth I could aspire to be.”

“Marvin is the reason I’ve interviewed friends and colleagues like Alex Bognon, the late Grover Washington, Jr., Marcus Anderson, and Gerald Albright.”

“Marvin was a music reviewer and wrote about jazz for the Virginian-Pilot when I was a copy boy at the Ledger-Star, the afternoon paper,” Mason recalled.

“Before college he taught me how to write an album review, and interview the musician.”

For several years, Lake programmed and produced a weekly radio jazz show, “Anything Goes” on WOWI, (later 103-JAMZ).

In 1983, for the first time, a significant number of Black journalists were working in various media outlets in the region. The offspring of that progress was the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals (HRBMP) and Lake was one of the key founding fathers. Lake always promoted diversity in the newsroom and wrote a career advice column “Career-Wise” for the National Association of Black Journalists Journal (NABJ).

In 2012, Lake was inducted into HRBMP’s Inaugural Hall of Fame. He served as its leader from 2001-2003.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of former HRBMP President Marvin Leon Lake,” wrote Lisa Godley, the multi-Emmy Winning producer of the WHRO talk show “Another View” and the current HRBMP President.

“You’ve heard me say before that we, as members of Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals, stand on the shoulders of giants, and Marvin Lake was one of them. He will truly be missed.”

He was The Pilot’s newsroom recruitment director for nine years and the Sunday Commentary editor simultaneously. Lake directed Landmark Communication’s year-long Minority Training Program, The Pilot’s summer internship program, and its Minority Journalism Workshop for high school students.

In 2005, his editorial, “Overdue Restitution,” about a new state scholarship program for individuals adversely impacted by Massive Resistance, won an Excel Award from HRBMP.

In 1997, he conceived and edited the award-winning three-day Pilot series, “Church Street: What Was Lost,” about the one-time hub of Black life in Hampton Roads. He also conceived, hosted, and narrated the local PBS documentary “Church Street: Harlem of the South,” a joint effort of The Pilot and WHRO-TV which won local, state, and national awards.

Although he was an

You’ve heard me say before that we, as members of Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals, stand on the shoulders of giants, and Marvin Lake was one of them. He will truly be missed.”

– Lisa Godley, President of the HRBMP

accomplished journalist, Lake had a sociology degree and a psychology minor from NSU.

At NSU, he was assistant to the school’s Public Affairs Director, Harvey Johnson, Jr. He also wrote a weekly column in the GUIDE called “From Norfolk State.”

He was an adjunct professor of journalism at NSU. He was the first recipient of the NSU Department of Mass Communications and Journalism’s Excellence in Communications Award and the NSU Distinguished Alumni in Media Award. He was director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government and a longtime co-chair of the Virginia Press Association’s Diversity Committee, conducting diversity training sessions. In June 2001, he received the George Mason Award from the Virginia Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for significant contributions to journalism in Virginia.

In 2007, he was inducted into Lake

ECSU ‘DAY OF GIVING’ GOAL SET AT

After exceeding its goal by more than $63,000 dollars in 2023, the Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Division of University Advancement has announced a goal of $100,000 for the 2024 Annual Day of Giving fundraising event.

The annual campaign began in 2017 and raises funding for several university initiatives including athletic and gap funding scholarships, the University Choir, and the Sound of Class Marching Band, among other groups.

In the past, affinity groups for alumni, students, faculty, and community members competed to see who could raise the most money. Letitia Evans, the director of Annual Giving, is hopeful a similar camaraderie and purposeful vigor will drive giving this year. “Throughout the year we receive feedback from our Viking community and friends about how they look forward to the Day of Giving,” she said. “The friendly competitions between the residence halls, Greek organizations, and class years makes for an exciting day for ECSU from start to finish.” What’s forthcoming for the university and its students is as important as what’s happening now, said Kevin Wade,

interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs and University Advancement.

“As we embark upon this annual Day of Giving, it is important to remember that although we give today, tomorrow is the reason,” he said. “This is an opportunity for everyone to give without limits as we continue to secure the future of our students and this institution.”

Giving for the campaign begins April 2, with the flagship date slated for April 18. Any gifts given in the month of April count toward Annual Day of Giving. Ways to give are available at vikingsgive@ecsu.edu.

the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. In 2008, the National Association of Minority Media Executives presented him with its top honor, the Robert G. Maynard Legend Award. Lake was project director for the City of Norfolk’s 50th Anniversary of the End of Massive Resistance Commemoration. He helped develop a book about AfricanAmerican history in Norfolk. Lake was vice president for planning and operations of the Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men Inc. For a number of years, he organized the annual 200+ Scholars Breakfast, honoring area African-American male high school graduates.

Photo: NJGArchives

NORFOLK

Roads.

Attorney General Jason Miyares said, “Helping formerly incarcerated Virginians find jobs provides hope and opportunity to them and their families, and it also improves public safety by reducing recidivism.”

“Revive’s mission is to remove barriers that prevent our communities from living a fulfilling life,” said Dr. B. Courtney McBath, President & CEO for Revive Community of Virginia.

He continued, “We are excited to partner with the ULHR and the Office of the

NRHA is currently accepting applications for housing at Aspire at Church Street from former Tidewater Gardens Residents who relocated out of the community on or after February 28, 2019. The waitlist will close Thursday, May 16, at 4 p.m. Eligible applicants can apply online by computer or smartphone at https://nrha.myhousing.com

Attorney General in a unified mission to changes the narrative, remove the stigma, and remove the barriers

preventing our family, friends and fellow citizens from a second chance at a fulfilling life.”

Mayoral Bid

PORTSMOUTH

The Honorable Lisa Lucas-Burke has placed her bid to become Porthsmouth’s next mayor.

Currently she serves as vice mayor of the city and is fired up and ready to go. Last weekend Vice Mayor Burke kicked off her campaign with a standing room only crowd to hear her message. Posed here with former Portsmouth Mayor John Rowe,her mother, Senator Louise L. Lucas, and former Senator Lionel Spruill.

Photo: ErnestLowery

POETRY RULES

1. Poems can be in any poetic style and on any subject.

2. A poem must be written by the person submitting the poem.

3. Poems over 300 total words may not be printed.

4. Do not submit poem in all capital letters.

5. Poems containing language that is vulgar, offensive, or wholly inappropriate will not be accepted.

6. Include your name or any other information at the end of your poem.

Send to njguide@gmail.com with POEM on the subject line or mail to New Journal and Guide, P.O. Box 209, Norfolk, VA 23501. April

Hello and welcome to The Bridge Corner. Using the prior information on beginning bridge basics, answer the following questions as they relate to the hand below, Then, bid and play the hand:

Dealer: North

QUESTIONS:

1) How many combined points are there in each partnership?

2) Does one partnership have enough combined strength for a Golden Game? Does the partnership have a Golden Fit in a major suit?

3) North is the dealer. Who would open the bidding? What would the opening bid be?

4) Which player would be the describer? Which player would be the responder? Which player would be the captain?

5) What should the contract be? Which player would be the declarer?

7) “Take your tricks and run” is a bridge saying that applies to this deal. Why would this be good advice? What might happen if you do not take your tricks when you have the opportunity?

ANSWERS:

1) North – South have 27 combined points; East – West have 13 combined points.

2) N – S have enough for a Golden Game (there are three Golden Game contracts: 4 Spades, 4 Hearts, and 3 No Trump). North – South do not have a Golden Fit in a major suit (when you and your partner have at least eight combined cards in a suit, it is considered a Golden Fit).

3) North opens the bidding with 1 No Trump.

4) North is the describer; South is the responder and the captain.

5) The contract should be 3 N/T. North is the declarer.

6) East makes the opening lead. East leads the K Spades. Declarer needs nine tricks; declarer has nine sure tricks.

7) “Take your tricks and run” is a good strategy because declarer is guaranteed

6) If North is the declarer in a 3 No Trump contract, who makes the opening lead? What would the opening lead be? How many tricks must declarer win to make the 3 N/T contract? How many sure tricks are there in each combined suit in the North and South hands?

Pharrell Williams Will Film

His Virginia Beach Childhood Musical In Richmond

By Rosaland Tyler

Expect to see Pharrel Williams rocking his quixotic childhood in Virginia Beach with Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot and other renowned rappers, after he puts the finishing touches on his coming-of-age musical that is scheduled to begin production in Richmond. The musical is about Williams’ childhood in Virginia Beach, located at 1021 Atlantis, the address where Williams grew up, according to a 2005 Dateline report on Williams. The musical will focus on Williams’ childhood and also include late 1970 coming of age scenes during his life in Virginia Beach’s Atlantis Apartments, a place where gunshots, drugs and violence were common, Williams told Dateline. The neighborhood was built in 1970 for low-income residents. It consists of 208 apartments that spread across 19 buildings. Williams, who owns a waterfront house in Virginia Beach and a home in Los Angeles, still visits Atlantis occasionally and has sent Thanksgiving turkeys to residents still living there.

Recent reports by the Richmond Times Dispatch said the movie is set to begin

filming in Richmond. At this stage, the musical is expected to include a cast that also includes rapper André 3000, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for “The Holdovers,” and actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. who will play the lead role.

The Virginia Film Office told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “due to client confidentiality, we do not comment on any project until authorized to do so.”

Williams, 50, became a hip-hop icon, after he finished Princess Anne High School, dropped out of Northwestern University and launched The Neptunes. Williams is also an award-winning singer, songwriter, record producer and fashion designe who also launched the first and subsequent “Something in the Water” concerts in Virginia Beach and Washington, D.C.

He has won 13 Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year in 2004, 2014 and 2019. His 2014 hit, “Happy,” received an Academy Award nomination. He also served as the producer and composer for “Hidden Figures” in 2017. While some news reports say the film is expected to debut in theaters on Oct. 11, others say no firm film release date has been announced.

CHESAPEAKE

The Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office wrapped up its Black History Month by thanking two retired trailblazers: Colonel William C. Bennett, Jr. (ret.) and Captain Junius “Nick” Moore (ret.).

Col. Bennett, the City of Chesapeake’s first Black Undersheriff, joined the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office in 1982. While he made his way up the ranks, Col. Bennett worked and supervised almost every section across the agency. He also served on the Chesapeake Police Department’s SWAT team from 1983-1988.

Col. Bennett earned many accolades throughout his law-enforcement career, including graduating with honors from the Portsmouth Police Department’s K-9 Patrol Academy and earning his CJM (Certi fi ed Jail Manager) certi fi cation from the American Jail Association. In addition to breaking barriers and protecting the community,

Col. Bennett led the way with community service.

After an astonishing 40-year law enforcement career, Col. Bennett retired in October 2023, leaving behind a legacy that will last decades.

Also, the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Of fi ce highlighted Capt. Moore who joined the CSO in 1980. He became the CSO’s fi rst Black Lead Defensive Tactics Instructor – expanding defensive tactics training and incorporating many of the techniques still used today. Capt. Moore made his biggest impact in Corrections-- mentoring and inspiring the deputies on D-Platoon (including current Undersheriff Dave Rosado and Lt. Colonel Christopher Pascal) before being appointed to the rank of Captain in 2005. With his decades of knowledge and hands-on leadership, Capt. Moore proudly served the City of Chesapeake for 28 years and left a legacy that is still present today.

By Sean C. Bowers

For every cog in the system, there is a resolution to end the mayhem.

For all the unrepresented, there is power in their numbers, mass against the demented.

For all time and past eternity, there is always peace’s purity.

As in autumn the leaves fall, there is always a friend who needs our call.

By Sean C. Bowers

There is a ghastly gruesome death, There is a last gasp of life’s breath. There is hard prison time, Watching you back every second down the line.

There are the false senses of money, power, fame, glory and security, No gang’s hands are blood sport clean and free, there is only death’s impurity.

As in winter the ice thaws, there is always work to be done on our own flaws.

As in spring life flowers, we are the budding testament to reborn sweetness that overcoming of resentment never sours.

As in the summer’s heat, our trials produce kiln fired masterpieces off of which life’s sustenance, we eat. For every change there is a season, for every one of us and our existence, there is a reason.

There is dying on corners, in the hood or on the yard, all to say you represented and carried the gang’s card and were hard.

Notice to all gang wanna be’s, in the past tense, There are no Old G’s cause the gang’s thug lifelessness, makes no sense, for every gang member, there is a bullet marked return to sender.

Sean C. Bowers has written the last 27 years for The New Journal and Guide, CHAMPIONING overcoming racism, sexism, classism, and religious persecution. More of his work can found by searching “Sean C. Bowers” on the NJ&G website, on social media at Linkedin.com or by email V1ZUAL1ZE@aol.com NNPA 2019 Publisher of the Year, Brenda H. Andrews (NJ&G 37 years) has always been his publisher.

Colonel William C. Bennett, Jr. (Ret.) Captain Junius “Nick” Moore (Ret.)

By Rev. Dr. Archie L. Edwards, Sr.

Acts 13:14-45, 49-50. “We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus” (Acts 13:32-33a).

Though we do not have an account of Paul’s total ministry in Galatia, Luke tells us of some of his experiences there on his first missionary journey (Acts 1314) and reports his sermon in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch (13:16-41). Paul concludes this sermon by proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus, though whom those who believed are justified. It is appropriate, therefore, that on Easter Sunday we study that sermon and relate it to the basic theme of Galatians justification by faith alone. Prologue. Following a short ministry on the island of Cyprus (vv. 4-12), Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark arrive by ship on the south coast of Asia Minor. They had been sent on this mission by the church at Antioch, under the direction of the Holy Spirit (vv. 2-3).

Paul and Barnabas go first to the synagogue, where they are invited to share “a message of encouragement” with the people (v. 15). Paul uses this opportunity to

proclaim the Gospel.

Preparation for Jesus’ Coming. Paul begins his message by quickly reviewing the history of Israel from the time of the patriarchs through the Exodus from Egypt, the wilderness wanderings, and the conquest of Canaan (vv. 17-20a). He refers to the Judges, to Samuel and to the establishment of the kingdom, first under Saul and then under David (vv. 20b22). Paul immediately moves to “great David’s greater Son,” Jesus (v. 23; Matthew 1:1)’ through whose birth God began the fulfillment of His promise of redemption through David’s off-spring (2 Samuel 7:12-13, 16; Jeremiah 23:5-6). Prophecies of Jesus’ Crucifixion. In common with the four Gospel writers, Paul speaks of the preparatory work of john the Baptist (Acts 13:24). Then, as he approaches the main thrust of his sermon, Paul earnestly appeals to his audience to recognize that the message of salvation through Jesus’ death is intended for all –both Jews and Gentiles (v. 26).

Paul alludes to the fact that the Jewish people and

their leaders in Jerusalem did not recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah (v. 27a). They condemned Him and persuaded Pilate, despite the absence of any legal basis, to have Him executed (v. 28).

All this followed by Jesus’ burial, “fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath” (v. 27b), as the people “carried out all that was written about Him” (v. 29).

Promises of Jesus’ Resurrection. The crucifixion was a prelude to the Resurrection, which showed that Jesus Christ is indeed the God as well as man (v. 30).

The Resurrection is a matter of public record, attested to ‘for many days” by those with whom Jesus walked and talked. These people became witnesses to the reality of the risen Christ (v. 31).

Paul quotes three specific passages. The first (v. 33) is from Psalm 2:7, in which the psalmist looks ahead to the Son’s resurrection and enthronement to rule over all nations of the earth.

The next quotation (Acts 13:34) is from Isaiah 35:3 and refers to the covenant that God made with David as He confirmed his kingship (2 Samuel 7:8 -16). At the heart of this covenant is the divine promise of a Son of David “who will build a house for My Name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (v. 13).

Finally, Paul quotes a phrase from Psalm 16. In it, King David was expressing his joy in God’s provision of life after death. Paul, however, sees a foreshadowing of Jesus’ Resurrection in the fact that, while David’s body decayed, Jesus was raised form the dead before bodily decay could occur (Acts 13:

35-37). Paul tells his hearers in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch that Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and appearances were all part of God’s plan to bring salvation to the human race.

Proclamation Of Forgiveness Through Jesus.

As Paul brings his sermon to a close, he makes a specific application of what he has been saying to his hearers, both positively and negatively.

Positively, he says that forgiveness of sins comes through faith in Jesus, the One who died and rose again (v. 38). In expounding this theme, Paul uses the word ‘justified” (v. 39) – the only place in Acts where it appears. From the very beginning Paul taught that people could be justified (declared righteous) only through faith in Christ and not by keeping the Mosaic Law. Negatively, Paul again draws on the Old Testament Scriptures to warn the assembly not to depart from the faith and thus incur God’s judgment (vv. 40-41).

Epilogue. Though there were many conversions following Paul’s proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection, there was also much opposition, as the concluding verses of chapter 13 tell us. But justification through the risen Christ is the only message that has God’s blessing and approval. It will, regardless of opposition, save those who believe, our privilege, in an increasingly secular, godless, unbelieving, and violent world, is to carry the Good News of Christ’s Resurrection everywhere we go, to be faithful to our Lord and to trust Him for the outcome of our witness, as Paul did in Galatia.

Dr. Patricia S. James, DDS Noted Dentist Passes In Virginia Beach

Patricia S. James, DDS, 65, of Virginia Beach, passed away Thursday, March 21, 2024 at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital.

Dr. Patricia S. James, DDS was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on December 1, 1958, cherished daughter of Dr. Grady James and Ida James. She was taken home to be with the Lord after a valiant battle with an illness.

In a statement, her family expressed gratitude to all of her employees, healthcare workers and friends who treated Patricia as family in her challenging journey. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org/).

Funeral services were held on Monday, April 1st, 2024 at the New Horizons Presbyterian Church, 913 Covenant Street, Norfolk, VA. A livestream of the service was filmed at Grave’s Funeral Home website (https:// gravesfuneralhomeinc. com).

Dr. Patricia S. James, DDS

Dr. James, DDS earned her undergraduate degree from Norfolk State University and her Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Howard University. She will be remembered for her faith in Christ, compassion for others and great service to the community, offering health care, compassionate words of wisdom and encouragement. Quick to brighten a room with her laughter, humor and a truly uplifting smile, it was clear to all she selflessly cared for her friends, employees, patients, and strangers. She is preceded in death by her mother, Ida; brother, Michael; Uncle William James of Ocala, FL. Survivors include her father Dr. Grady James; brother Chris, his wife Annette, her nieces, Ciera and Risa; and a host of other family members and friends.

HAVE YOU LOST A LOVED ONE?

Commemorate and honor the lives of those who have passed with an obituary. Email us at njguide@gmail.com and let us help you remember them.

BOOKWORM REVIEW

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

“WHAT DO YOU NEED?”

That wasn’t the answer you wanted.

Beating around the bush, hemming and hawing, those aren’t answers. A solid yes or no, that’s what you require, a simple affirmative or negative, but you may not get it.

Is the answer hung up somewhere, or is it being withheld? You may never know but author Lauren Wesley Wilson says you should never stop asking.

In her new book “What Do You Need?” your career might depend on it.

A little over a decade ago, new-grad Lauren Wesley Wilson took a job she thought she might like. As it turned out, though, she was the only woman of color in the organization and that held her back; there were, for instance, things that her white colleagues knew that she didn’t, “extras” that would’ve eased her way, insider info that would’ve made it possible for promotions and better contact-making. That was a valuable lesson: being “a first-andonly” really does matter in the workplace, a fact

that spurred Wilson to try something audacious. She invited a small number of women to a get-together in May of 2011 to ask one another “What do you need?” and to share personal and professional answers. From that gathering, ColorComm Corporation was born, and it currently offers chapters for women of color in many cities.

So what do you need?

First of all, you need to thrive in the workplace, and you need to understand that some places aren’t

“set up” for that. You need to acknowledge that being first-and-only makes things harder. Ask for a mentor or learn how to find your own with gentle persistence and without being a pest. You’ll need to make a good reputation for yourself, and to selfpromote. Become a joiner, cultivate a wide mix of contacts, understand your value, learn to assess risks and promote yourself, be willing to work, and know when it’s time to walk away.

Finally, invest in yourself the same as you invest in money, clothing, cars, and vacations. “Your career should be just as important.”

Pick up “What Do You Need?,” hold it at arms’ length, and ask yourself if you really need another book of advice on how to get ahead if you’re a woman of color. Look closer, page through it, and your answer is likely to be “yes.”

Yes, there’s a lot of repetition, both within this book itself and when compared to others, but what sets it apart from those similar tomes is its encouragement to continually think so very precisely. Author Lauren Wesley Wilson doggedly returns to her title question to help readers sort through their options with more focus, while case studies and examples steadfastly lead them to apply the lessons inside this book to their own lives and workplaces. Straight talk and an unwillingness to gloss over the facts complete this book, and make it one you’ll want to own. If you need to get ahead and you’re ready to concentrate and do the work, “What Do You Need?” might have the answers you’ve wanted.

FUN PUZZLE FOR YOUR LEISURE

Beloved Actor & Activist

Louis

By Stacy M. Brown Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

NNPA NEWSWIRE

Louis Gossett Jr., the groundbreaking actor whose career spanned over five decades and who became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his memorable role in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” has died.

Gossett, who was born on May 27, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, was 87. Recognized early on for his resilience and nearly unmatched determination, Gossett arrived in Los Angeles in 1967 after a stint on Broadway.

He sometimes spoke of being pulled over by law enforcement en route to Beverly Hills, once being handcuffed to a tree, which he remembered as a jarring introduction to the racial tensions of Hollywood.

In his memoir “An Actor and a Gentleman,” Gossett recounted the ordeal, noting the challenges faced by Black artists in the industry.

Despite the hurdles, Gossett’s talent shone brightly, earning him acclaim in groundbreaking productions such as “A Raisin in the Sun” alongside Sidney Poitier. His Emmy-winning portrayal of Fiddler in “Roots” solidified his status as a trailblazer, navigating a landscape fraught with racial prejudice.

According to the HistoryMakers, which interviewed him in 2005, Gossett’s journey into the limelight began during his formative years at PS 135 and Mark Twain Junior High School, where he demonstrated early leadership as the student body president. His passion for the arts blossomed when he starred in a “You Can’t Take It With You” production at Abraham Lincoln High School, catching the attention of talent scouts who propelled him onto Broadway’s stage in “Take A Giant Step.” His stellar performance earned him the prestigious Donaldson Award for Best Newcomer to Theatre in 1952.

Though initially drawn to sports, Gossett’s towering 6’4” frame and athletic prowess led him to receive a basketball scholarship at New York University.

Despite being drafted by the New York Knicks in 1958, Gossett pursued his love for acting, honing his craft at The Actors Studio under the tutelage of luminaries like John Sticks and Peggy Fury.

In 1961, Gossett’s talent

caught the eye of Broadway directors, leading to roles in acclaimed productions such as “Raisin in the Sun” and “The Blacks,” alongside legends like James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Roscoe Lee Brown, and Maya Angelou. Transitioning seamlessly to television, Gossett graced small screens with appearances in notable shows like “The Bush Baby” and “Companions in Nightmare.”

Gossett’s silver screen breakthrough came with his role in “The Landlord,” paving the way for a prolific filmography that spanned over 50 movies and hundreds of television shows. From “Skin Game” to “Lackawanna Blues,” Gossett captivated audiences with his commanding presence and versatile performances.

However, his portrayal of “Fiddler” in Alex Haley’s groundbreaking miniseries “Roots” earned Gossett critical acclaim, including an Emmy Award. The HistoryMakers noted that his golden touch extended to the big screen, where his role as Sergeant Emil Foley in “An Officer and a Gentleman” earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him a trailblazer in Hollywood history.

Beyond the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, Gossett was deeply committed to community activism. In 1964, he cofounded a theater group for troubled youth alongside James Earl Jones and Paul Sorvino, setting the stage for his lifelong dedication to mentoring and inspiring the next generation. Gossett’s tireless advocacy for racial equality culminated in the establishment of Eracism, a non-profit organization dedicated to combating racism both domestically and abroad.

Throughout his illustrious career, Gossett remained a beacon of strength and resilience, using his platform to uplift marginalized voices and champion social change. Satie and Sharron, Gossett’s children, survive him.

Louis Gossett Jr.

Lauren Wesley Wilson